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December 20, 2001
South Phoenix Project Underway

With the November 30, 2001 Groundbreaking Ceremony, Arizona ACORN Housing Corporation launched the Desert Rose Homes Project. The Project will build 42 new affordable homes in South Phoenix that can be purchased by households with incomes as low as $22,000/year. Councilman Cody Williams dubbed the Project, "Development with a View of the Future" and playing on its scenic view of South Mountain. His counterpart, Councilman Doug Lingner said " the American Dream is to own a home, that dream is alive and well in Phoenix, thanks to the work of ACORN Housing." [more...]

November 13, 2001
AHC awarded SHOP grant renewal

The ACORN Housing Corporation was awarded $360,000 under the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP). Funds from this HUD Program can be used for land acquisition, utility and other infrastructure improvements and administration of the projects. The Project will provide homeownership opportunities for low-income homebuyers in Chicago, New York and Phoenix. ACORN Housing has received nearly $2 million through this program over the last 4 years.

October 25, 2001
Study Documents Increased Racial Disparity in Mortgage Lending

Our sister organization, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has released a study documenting continued racial and income disparities in the mortgage lending market. The report analyzes data on a national scale and in 60 metropolitan areas. The study finds that, in 2000, African American applicants were over twice as likely to be turned down for a conventional mortgage as white applicants, and Latinos were rejected almost one-and-a-half times more often than whites.

This disparity is greater than it was in 1999, and in some cities the disparity is even more alarming. In 2000 in Milwaukee and Chicago, for example, African Americans were over four times more likely to be denied for a conventional purchase loan than whites were. Residents of all races in low-income neighborhoods are also three times more likely to be denied than residents of upper-income neighborhoods when applying for a conventional home purchase mortgage.
[click for more at the ACORN Website...]

October 18, 2001
ACORN Housing Saves Family from Predatory Lender

ACORN Housing Corporation and Minnesota ACORN have saved Lee Yang, Ger Xiong, and their ten children from losing their home to Household Finance

Vang and Xiong refinanced their mortgage last summer with Household Finance and were given a loan with such abusive terms that by the end of the year they were in danger of foreclosure. Household increased their interest rate from 8 percent to 13.8 percent, and their monthly payments from $589, including taxes and insurance, to $1,092, not including taxes and insurance.
[click for more...]

Arizona ACORN Housing Corporation’s Desert Rose Home’s Project will break ground in November. This project represents ACORN Housing’s first venture into the construction of new single family units. Through a combination of innovative financing from World Savings and other lending partners; low-cost construction loans from LISC, the Phoenix IDA and others; and a variety of public subsidies from the City of Phoenix, State of Arizona, HUD and Federal Home Loan Bank ACORN Housing will provide affordable homeownership opportunities to homebuyers with incomes as low as 50% of the median income. Homebuyers must be low-income first time homeowners, complete our homeownership training program and participate in sweat equity teams. This program bucks the recent trend of for-profit developers building upscale housing that is not affordable to the current low and moderate income South Phoenix neighborhood residents. The Desert Rose Homes Project Dedications Ceremony will take place in late November.
[click for more...]

October 11, 2001
$1 Billion approved by the Bank of America

ACORN HOUSING, BANK of AMERICA DELIVER $1 BILLION - In 2000, the partnership of ACORN Housing Corporation and Bank of America delivered $1 billion in fair and affordable mortgage lending to low-income and minority borrowers. This is possibly the highest volume community partnership in thehistory of the Community Reinvestment Act.

AHC provides low- and moderate-income borrowers with one-on-one pre-purchase loan counseling and assistance in 27 cities. AHC and its bank partners have put over 40,000 families into homes of their own. For more information, contact BruceDorpalen at ahclcdirect@acorn.org or (215) 765-0048.

October 11, 2001
HUD grant renewed for 2002

ACORN Housing Corporation was awarded $1,032,192 by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing counseling in 27 cities for low and moderate income households.

This funding provides for housing counselors who can work with:

• first time homebuyers who are trying to qualify for their first mortgage,
• existing homeowners who want to refinance their mortgage
• households who need to borrow to repair their house or for other reasons,
• homeowners who have fallen behind in their mortgage payments,
• people who are worried about being tricked by predatory lenders into a loan with high rates, junk fees, or unfair terms, or
• homeowners who are having trouble with an existing loan which may have predatory terms.